U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

[Chip Douglass]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

We'll just have to agree to disagree with regard to China's vested interests in N Korea.

China probably has more of a vested interest in the other Korea, where their trade volume is 70 times higher compared to North Korea.

[Burns11]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

The only thing China cares about it trade, that's why China backs the bulk of it's trade partners when they want to sanction N Korea, right?

Anyway, as I said we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

The only thing China cares about it trade, that's why China backs the bulk of it's trade partners when they want to sanction N Korea, right?

Actually, they have backed economic sanctions against North Korea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10201876

Not to mention, there's a world's worth of difference between sheltering North Korea from crippling sanctions and publicly backing them in a war against the United States.

[Cusefan]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

Actually, they have backed economic sanctions against North Korea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10201876

Not to mention, there's a world's worth of difference between sheltering North Korea from crippling sanctions and publicly backing them in a war against the United States.

China Backing NK is all a show. If China just went with the US every time, they would look weak to their public. Its really a balancing act and everyone knows it, China will continue to do what they do, but when push comes to shove, they will dump NK.

[superjames1992]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

Nobody can win a nuclear war. If it came to full scale nuclear war with China, even just a couple of volleys each, depending on the targets we could be talking about both countries being in near third world status for a while afterward.

I'm not sure how many nukes China has that are actually capable of reaching US soil and I don't know how reliable they are. Then one must account for how many get shot down by ABM defenses. They probably have tens of ICBM nukes that would hit here and would do a lot of damage and kill millions of people, but when we strike back with several hundred nukes from bombers, ICBMs, and SLBMs (The Nuclear Triad!) and wipe out hundreds of millions of people, I'd say we win.

That's not to say that we'd be in good shape, but still. We'd be thrust back 100 years as far as living standards in a lot of areas for a period of time, probably, with all kinds of infrastructure and electricity knocked out.

That's why it's in our interest to possess as many nukes as we do because we and Russia are the only two countries who can truly turn every country in the world into a third-world nation during a nuclear exchange. Quite the deterrence!

[Hova57]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance

this adds a whole new role of where we stand

[Cusefan]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance

this adds a whole new role of where we stand

We will have an answer for this (or already do) by this time next year. Thats how it always goes, one nation develops a super weapon, the other nation develops the deterrence to said weapon.

[Hova57]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

We will have an answer for this (or already do) by this time next year. Thats how it always goes, one nation develops a super weapon, the other nation develops the deterrence to said weapon.

if funny how the laser was developed by the navy and the eta is about the same for the chinese missle for it to be fully developed

[Burns11]

Re: U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

We will have an answer for this (or already do) by this time next year. Thats how it always goes, one nation develops a super weapon, the other nation develops the deterrence to said weapon.

SeaRAM, which is essentially a Phalanx (radar guided, automatic 20mm gatling turret) that fires missiles instead of tungsten slugs. It's currently in testing stages, but could be fast tracked and installed in place of Phalanx systems.